By CHRIS GRYGIEL, SEATTLEPI.COM

Updated 5:01 pm, Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Problems with the private contractor setting up a highway tolling system will again delay tolls on State Route 520 bridge, transportation officials said Wednesday.

The state had hoped to start tolling - a critical component of paying for the 520 bridge replacement - between April and June of this year. That was later pushed back to July.

"We can't give you the date yet," Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond said at a news conference. "We will know more in a couple of weeks."

Last month the state announced it was investigating glitches in the Tacoma Narrows Bridge tolling that began after a new contractor took over. Thousands of erroneous infractions were issued by the electronic system on that span.

Hammond said the state was working with the contractor to ensure that similar problems don't happen on 520.

"We are making darn sure this thing works," Hammond said.

Texas-based ETC Corporation was selected to help the state oversee and implement electronic tolling on Tacoma Narrows, 520 and State Route 167. Hammond said because of ongoing problems, the state assessed a $2 million penalty on the five-year. $23 million agreement. Dave Dye, assistant WSDOT director, emphasized that 97 percent of the transactions on the Tacoma Narrows were unaffected by glitches. The state and ETC identified four fixes to rectify the problems – making sure automatic credit card transactions work, ensuring account balance notifications are OK, distinguishing between low and negative balances and violation tracking.

Hammond said initial testing has begun on the 520 bridge system to ensure there aren't similar headaches.

The state hopes to collect $1 million a week from 520 tolling when it's up and running. If problems persist implementing the electronic system into the fall, that could affect that state's ability to issue bonds to pay for the 520 replacement. If that were to happen, WSDOT would likely have to work with the Legislature to decide how to proceed, Dye said.

"We're not there yet," Dye said.

WSDOT expects federal approval in July on the $4.6 billion replacement plan, which includes a new westside segment in Seattle from Interstate 5 to Foster Island and new eastside roadway from Medina to Redmond. Planning has been under way for more than a decade.

The floating bridge is vulnerable to earthquakes and severe windstorms.

Construction would start on the Lake Washington bridge in the spring of 2012. But with a $2 billion shortfall in the state's financial plan, the bridge's most controversial segment -- the westside portion -- may not get built until years after the floating bridge is finished. The state is counting on tolling on the current span this summer to raise about $1 billion toward the project. Officials have suggested several other funding possibilities, such as another gas tax, federal grants, or tolling on Interstate 90 to cover the balance.

The state initially hoped to start tolling sometime between April and June. But WSDOT was testing the electronic tolling system and interfaces to make sure everything worked properly.